"How do he and the purser get along together?"
"None too good, so I've been told. I wish we had a man in place of Polk."
"So do I."
"More than likely, when he comes to pay you your wages, he'll take out the price of a shoe shine."
"Would he really be mean enough to do that?"
"Polk is about mean enough to do anything."
There the talk ended and Randy finished up his work. The day passed, and when the steamboat tied up that night Randy was more than usually sleepy. It was very warm, and he went on the upper deck to get a breath of fresh air.
"See here," said the purser, coming up to him rather suddenly. "Are you talking about me?"
"Talking about you?" repeated our hero, somewhat puzzled.
"That is what I said."